This morning brought more news of yet another massive landslide in Big Sur, closing off our beloved Big Sur. This landslide on Highway 1--the only access in and out of Big Sur--is being described as the largest in California state history. CalTrans estimates that it will require billions to repair, and isn't saying how long the highway will be closed.
When was the last time you visited Big Sur? Or is it on your bucket list for a future? And now it's off limits to all of us for the unforeseen future.
Last winter when the heavy rains caused the bridge to collapse and Big Sur was closed for what was predicted to be 9 months until the bridge was repaired, I felt awful.
Big Sur has been my go-to place. After my late husband died, I drove up the coast on that gorgeous and dramatic Highway 1 to Big Sur. Hiking in the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park with Steve Harper, leader, and the rest of the Esalen hiking group, started my post-bereavement healing.
I couldn't get enough of the hikes, the old growth forests, the cliffside hot tubs, the friendliness of the people. I returned again and again. Annually.
When I met Ed, who is from Kentucky and Washington, D.C., and wanted to show him "my" California, and what I loved best about the West Coast, I took him to Big Sur. In the first month we knew each other. We stayed at the modest Big Sur Lodge, and in the years ahead room 62 became "our' room. We ate breakfast at the wonderful Big Sur Bakery and were delighted to learn they also serve lunch and dinner.
One the years we took our grandsons up the coast to Big Sur and treated them to wonderful, memorable hikes and meals
When I first heard about the bridge collapsing, I wondered how all the lovely people who live and make their living in Big Sur, were going to survive for 9 plus months? Now with this new massive landslide, I worry that everyone--including Steve Harper, the hiking leader at Esalen--will be forced to move out and find new lives elsewhere. I called Steve this morning and left a message.
